An old tale, well told, becomes new again.

That seems to be the thinking behind Grimm, one of the new “fantasy-fusion” shows I’ve been impressed with this season. NBC has picked it up for a full 22 episode run, and the show’s creators and writers are ready to give us a closer look at the characters and the dark mythology that make up the world of Grimm. In part one of a two part interview, series creators David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf explain the appeal of these stories and their relevance today:

       DG: People love these stories. There’s a reason they’ve been handed down both in a written and in oral form, for hundreds and hundreds of years – they still have an appeal. We’re not only taking old fairy tales and kind of fracturing them, we’re also making new fairy tales out of what’s going on today and putting it in a fairy tale context. Our conceit is that all the writers of fairy tales were in fact some kind of profilers. It gives us the opportunity to explain human behavior in a very bizarre way. You know, the child molester as a Big Bad Wolf, etc. We’re going to explain war and famine and all the ills of the world. It’s all because of these crazy critters out there.

Merging the dark world of fairy tales with the gritty reality of homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) seems like a daunting task. Grimm manages to blend both elements while building a larger story with unique characters and mythology to create a world where everything is far more complex than it seems. Greenwalt talks about creating the bigger story within the series:

       It was kind of the plan all along to bring in more mythology as we get deeper in the series, but we don’t want to bring in so much that your average everyday viewer can’t just watch a show. So there’ll certainly be a case of the week, if not a monster of the week every time. But in these back nine [episodes], you’re going to see a lot more of the personal and back stories of everybody. We do have a little bible of the overarching mythology and where we think we’re going in years to come.

Both Greenwalt and Kouf are known for their work on genre television (Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Jake 2.0, PROFIT, The Handler, Ghost Whisperer), and they seem especially suited to this kind of storytelling.

They explain the appeal:

       JK: It’s the freedom of it. We’re not locked into, you know, reality. We can play with reality a little bit, which makes it more fun to write.

DG: I love taking a procedural show and just having a guy turn into a Blutbad, you know, or a Bauerschwein. It’s just so much fun because it feels like I’m watching a regular kind of procedural show, and then suddenly there’s critter.

I mean obviously those were great experiences with great people, but you know working with my old partner Jim again – we do it a little differently. We do it one inch at a time, you know. We just start at the beginning and move forward. Grimm is its own creature and has its own set of rules.

That’s not to say they are averse to bringing elements from their past shows to the Grimm universe – especially when it comes to the talents of (Director/Writer/Genre Icon) Joss Whedon:

     DG: That son of a bitch! He’s got to come do one for us. And you know as soon as I saw Joss at Comic-Con and didn’t even think to ask – I mean, of course we would love to have him write, direct, or do craft service, you know. If he’s free. He’s pretty good with a bagel, I’m telling you.

We have Amy Acker coming in February to play kind of a Black Widow like you’ve never seen before. Know, I’d love, I’d love to work with Charisma [Carpenter] again and any of the old gang. When there’s an appropriate part, we would definitely make that choice. We’d love to have Tony (Anthony Stewart Head) – we’ve actually been thinking of how we could get Tony into the show if he’d want to do it.

Now that the scene is set and we’ve met our main characters, what does the second half of the season hold?

JK:       We’re going to start revealing stuff. This is a pretty deep mythology, so we’re just cracking the surface right now. Some of that will become more apparent in the episodes that are coming up here very soon.

You’ll see there’s some recurring characters coming up in the next episode.

DG: There are a couple coming in February sweeps; one is called “The Last Grimm Standing.” It was a monster to shoot, a monster to write. It’s a gladiatorial kind of big fighting episode, and our great team in Portland just pulled out all the stops for that one.

Creating the complex world of Grimm presents both challenges and rewards, as Kouf and Greenwalt explain:

JK: The biggest challenge is producing the shows, because we’re writing actually what we feel are movies that they’re producing on a TV schedule. So hats off to our production team in Portland, who are actually given the task of making these things, and they’re difficult. They’re physically challenging to make. That’s the hardest part. The most fun for me is the mythology that we’re getting into, and the chance to explore some fun stuff coming up.

DG: For me the most challenging thing is to get to the office before noon. And the most exciting thing is seeing these shows on television, and when they come out really good and they really work, and they’re dark and psychological and kind of funny. And that feels very satisfying and encourages me to get up in the morning and get in and work with Jim.

With the announcement of even more fantasy or fairy tale themed shows on the way, are there ever any concerns about making sure Grimm stands out?

DG: We’re not watching any other shows. We – you know, we’re kind of living here in the office and doing this show. And you know, we wish them the best, and we wish ourselves the best. I think there may be some fairy tale characters that are similar, but our – the shows are so incredibly different that I don’t think it matters. You know, if a show is good, that is what matters. The rest doesn’t really matter.

JK: Yes. Our job is to keep the writing strong and the shows strong, and hopefully we’re delivering good entertainment every week. So that’s our job.

 

Coming up in part two (Feb.2^nd): Kouf and Greenwalt reveal how they decide what to name their creature characters, what’s in store for Hank, how they feel about Monroe-mania, and the proper name for all of these strange Grimm creatures! Stay tuned for spoilers!

Grimm returns with a new episode Friday February 3rd at 9pm ET on NBC.